Maurice is spending an evening toasting five people who have shaped his life. He toasts them with different drinks and tells his life story in this beautifully written tale of life in Ireland. The prose is wonderful and we learn how a life is intertwined with others, family, friends and enemies.
I loved Maurice with all his faults and frailties, he was portrayed as a character we can all identify with.
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read such a moving book.

“Ready now to begin the first of five toasts: five toasts, five people, five memories.....I’m here to remember- all that I have been and all that I will never be again”

We meet 84 year old Maurice Hannigan at the bar of a posh Irish hotel. He is having a night of celebration to toast the five people who meant the most to him over the course of a lifetime. In an imaginary conversation with his son Kevin, who is thousands of miles away in America, Maurice tells his life story over the course of one evening. Telling home truths and things he just could never say to his face.

This was a very touching and poignant book. I don’t think I’ve read a book from the viewpoint of an elderly gentleman before. It was interesting to hear from the older generation. A reminder of a different time. When boys left school at 12 to work the land. And people didn’t talk about their feelings.

It also represented the lonely life of a widower and how life changes after the loss of a loved one. He’s not always a likeable character with the decisions he makes and secrets he keeps. And he comes to the realisation that he could have been a better father.

My favourite part of the book was the toast to his late wife Sadie. The pages come alive and we find out how they first met and started courting. Those pages are filled with life and love.

So let’s all raise a glass to Maurice Hannigan.

One night, one man, one life.
Some stories reach out for your heart, envelop it with warmth and gently speak to it. This is what When All Is Said does.

Maurice, on a June night, decides to toast to five people, tell their stories and through them, explore his own. What makes a man? Which memories stick with us no matter what? What breaks us?

Spending time with Maurice is like sitting with an old friend, raising glasses to a time long gone, reminiscing the good and bad.

I had this vision while reading this poetic and authentic novel. I felt my hand go over Maurice’s face, gently brushing over each scar, each wrinkle, each crease in his features. The honest and naked truth of a man who did his best, who doesn’t try to hide his faults, who assess a life lived. Genuine, powerful, and full of emotions, When All Is Said is a trip down memory lane with a hand firmly grasping the present, offering hindsight on events and people who coloured the days and years of a man.

The point of those trips to the past is not to give lessons or give us the key to a better life. It is simpler than this. An honest testimony brought to life by a skilled author who has a strong understanding of the human psyche.

Sitting alone in this bar, Maurice is the perfect portray of loneliness, of weariness. If I loved every chapter and felt tears gathering at the corners of my eyes several times, it is his wife’s absence, and Maurice’s heartbreaking tale of the hole she left that truly had me crying.

When All Is Said is a brilliant and emotional debut.

Some books leave me with little to say except I loved the experience of reading them. Maybe I should leave it at that in regards to this particular novel. But it's funny because Anne Griffin's debut novel “When All is Said” is a story that's so dominated by story itself it doesn't invite the reader to do anything but listen in rapt delight. It's told from the perspective of 84 year-old Irish farmer and businessman Maurice who sits in a bar having several drinks to honour people who've had a significant impact upon his life. And the experience of reading this book is like that feeling of listening to an old man brimming with tales to tell: some wickedly funny, some heart-wrenchingly sad and some that come with twists so disarming they left me stunned. So by the end of the book I was left feeling like this man's life had washed over me. I was moved by all his disappointments, passions and sorrows. There's also a blissful sense of release because Maurice is someone who always had difficulty expressing his feelings throughout his life and found it challenging to communicate as he suffered from a learning disability. Like the inverse of a series of reminiscences at a funeral, his narrative at this very late stage in his life is the most beautiful tribute to the people who made him who he is and a profound kind of letting go.

Naturally, because Maurice has lived so long, he has observed many physical and social changes to his country. Like in John Boyne's “The Heart's Invisible Furies”, part of what's so mesmerising about this man's story is to realize how much things can change in the course of a lifetime. It's shocking now to read how several decades ago a very young man like Maurice who comes from a desperately poor family could go to work on an estate and receive such horrific verbal and physical abuse from the lords of the manor. And this shows so poignantly how feelings of hurt and a desire for revenge can come to dominate a man's life. Maurice also describes why he's had such trouble emotionally opening up and being forthright about what he wants in life: “People didn’t really do that back then, encourage and support. You were threatened into being who you were supposed to be.” For a new generation that's raised with gentle words of encouragement and a sense that you should become the person you're supposed to be, it's quite sobering to realise how difficult it'd be to grow up under such strict tutelage.

Part of the immense pleasure I found in this novel is in it's all-encompassing Irish-ness. And no man is more Irish than Maurice: a straight talking self-made man of the Earth, loyal to his wife, likes a good drink and tells a spellbinding tale. His sensibility mixes humour with sorrow, humility with the grandiloquent and irony with the utmost sincerity. These dualities make his tales so bewitching and pleasurable to read. Perhaps he sums up his own feelings for the people closest to him best when describing the relationship that existed between his wife and her mother: “There was a love but of the Irish kind, reserved and embarrassed by its own humanity.” But here in this novel he finally divulges his experiences and unvoiced feelings to commemorate all the details of his fascinating life.

When All Is Said is Anne Griffin's debut novel.  This is gorgeous book that will pull at your heartstrings and should come with a box of tissues; you have been warned.  This is a character driven novel and focuses on Maurice who is eighty four and sitting the bar of The Rainford House Hotel.  During the evening he makes five toasts, with either stout or whisky, to five people who have been important in his life. Written in the first person narrative, Maurice addresses his toasts, and the reminisces of his life to his only son Kevin, who lives in America.

When All Is Said is a beautiful book about life and death, love and loss, success and failure and hopes and dreams.  As Maurice recounts his memories, the first person narrative has the effect of bringing the reader into his life, being part of the good and the bad that life dealt him.  What really came through for me, and tugged at my heartstrings, was his sense of loneliness and isolation after the death of his wife, with no other family around and not wanting to be a burden to his son.

Anne Griffin has a brilliant understanding of the the human psyche and is able to bring out the emotion of this book and make it feel personal and heartfelt. The prose is lyrical as it takes the reader on a journey through Ireland's history, as well as Maurice's history, with wonderful attention to detail. This is not a hurried tale, Anne Griffin gives Maurice time to tell his tale and contemplate on what his life has been. There are many laugh out loud moments as Maurice is no saint, in particular with his revenge on the Dollard family, his enemies since he was ten years old.

When All Is Said is simply a beautiful, poignant and reflective read on one man's life.  Anne Griffin uses words to paint an intimate portrait of Maurice, that shows the good and the bad and the highs and the lows.  By the end of the book I was reading with tears rolling down my cheeks, and almost wanted to put the book down and remain in ignorance, but I'm glad I didn't.  This is a truly remarkable read and one I highly recommend.

A well written book, describing life in Ireland through the eyes of one man.
Unfortunately I couldn't get out of my head how this format has been done before and done very well by Mitch Albom.

I was sent a copy of When All is Said by Anne Griffin to read and review by NetGalley.
What a beautiful book! It, to me, is typically Irish in style – gentle storytelling at its best. Told in the first person it is the life story of 84-year-old Maurice Hannigan as he sits at the bar and toasts the people who have meant the most to him. His tale is told to his son but through his thoughts not words, his son being thousands of miles away in America. He tells of all the aspects of his life that he has never been able to voice in person, both of pride and regret, love and joy. This is a truly special piece of writing and definitely one for fans of John Boyne and the like.

A slow start to this but I’m glad I persevered. The voice of the main character is the driving force of this novel. Maurice sits at the bar of a hotel he half owns, drinking five toasts and telling the story of his life. From humble beginnings, facing humiliations and devastating loss until he makes something of his life and tries to find revenge. And yet, this isn’t a ‘revenge’ type book. It’s one man’s misguided grudges and lack of empathy for others, until later in life. Maurice is an old git, but entertaining and strong willed. His end is not a surprise but still moving nontheless. An excellent debut.

Hard to believe that this is a debut novel; the writing is so relaxed and fluid that at times I felt that I was not so much reading a book as listening to its central character as he chatted to me in the bar of an Irish hotel.

The man in the bar is 84-year-old Maurice Hannigan and the hotel has played a large role in his long life, since the day he left school to work there when it was the local Big House. Bullied by his employer and his sadistic son, he grew up to take his revenge by buying up the family land. A hard man, you might think, left with memories to share. An early remark might give you an idea of the man - “Not that we were the perfect couple. But we were good, you know. Solid and steady. At least that's how it felt for me. I never asked her, mind.” He is such a well-drawn character that I'm not sure I didn't meet him once or twice when I worked in Belfast fifty years ago. His money, won by years of hard graft and shrewd dealings in land, has done nothing to smooth the rough corners of his childhood.

Maurice has plans for the evening, specifically to offer five toasts to the five people who have shaped his life: a bottle of stout for his elder brother Tony, whom he hero-worshipped until Tony's early death, a glass of Bushmills 21-year malt whiskey for his daughter Molly who survived for only 15-minutes of life, a second bottle of stout for Noreen, his wife's mentally ill sister, then on to a second whiskey (21-year-old Jefferson's Presidential Select which Google tells me sells for an average £350 a bottle) in honour of his son Kevin, now a journalist in America with whom he has had a difficult relationship, thanks to his very Irish personality - “we tunnel ourselves deeper into our aloneness. Solving problems on our own.”

The fifth and final toast, another whiskey – Midleton Very Rare – honours his wife Sadie and triggers his bittersweet memories of their long marriage and the two years to the day since her death, two years which include some of the funniest episodes in the book. .That's the point where you have to accept as a reader that Maurice isn't talking to you, he's talking to that son of his, rather in awe of him and wondering how he, as a hard-headed, greedy, dyslexic Irish farmer could have sired such a talented wordsmith.

Toasts drunk, Maurice retires to the hotel's honeymoon suite where his marriage to Sadie began. The bottle of Midleton by his side, he writes to his son “I'm ready for your mother now. Ready for her by my side again. It's a risk, I know. …. But anything, anything has to be better than this life without her.” Not such a hard man, after all.

I am using this is my first book for the reading bingo challenge 2019 - a debut. It is a beautifully written story but a bit different from anything else I have read. Read a few books of a similar style but they have always been from a woman's viewpoint - enjoyed that this one was written from a man's perspective. Quite sad in places and makes you think about getting older. An author to watch.

Very much enjoyed this book, it was extremely charming and really makes you think about life. I dont want to write anything else about it because i do not wish to spoil your experience of the book. Highly recommended.

phenomenal debut .. 5 whopping stars

To say I adored this book is an understatement, it's a breathtaking debut, told as the rambling narrative of an 84 year old man, one who recognises his flaws, one who doesn't try to hide or excuse them, one who is brutally honest about himself, and one who I fell a little bit in love with!

From the humblest of beginnings Maurice tells his life story so vividly whilst raising a glass to the 5 people who impacted his life; the shame, heartbreak and hatred of his early days, his love and regrets, the drive to succeed and the cost of that determination and the loneliness, bewilderment and desolation of bereavement. The writing is sublime, I was transported to the settings, shared in the emotions and truly didn't want this wonderful story to end .... ever!

There are no big reveals, no twists to look out for, no OMG moments just a wonderful story, beautifully told and one I will be recommending this gem of a book to anyone who will listen.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to read this book. My honest thoughts and opinion are expressed in this review.

Five toasts. Five people. One lifetime.
When All is Said is a heartwarming story about the 5 people who have impacted Maurice Hannigan, an old man near the end of his life.
It's a beautifully written tale, told from Maurice as he sits in a bar on the last night of his life.
Each toast represents a person who impacted his life and made him who he is.
The ending will break your heart!

5 Solid Stars for this debut! I felt I was sitting beside Maurice Hannigan in that bar and he was telling me about each of the people he was drinking to as he told me his life story. Maurice is not perfect - he has his flaws which makes him even more endearing. He has had a full life shaped by the events of his youth. There have been five members of his family that have brought him to where he is now. There is such simplicity in the writing making it more effective and it is hard to believe that the author has not led this life.
I highly recommend this book and look forward to more by this author.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Anne Griffin/Hodder & Stoughton for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

I loved this book. Maurice tells his life story through toasts he makes to 5 people. It was a story filled with misfortune and love. I was hooked and raced through the book.

I can't wait to read more books by this author.

If I could I would give 4.5 stars.

This is a beautiful book. The lyrical writing and heartbreaking, yet ultimately heart-warming story had me choked up on more than one occasion, but this may be the first book ever to have achieved that within the first 5%! I loved the narrative of the five toasts and may have fallen a little bit in love with the grumpy Maurice. This is definitely one that will stick with me and I recommend it highly.

All Is Said is a story about an Irish man called Maurice. It's told in his own words in the form of a long letter to his son. It doesn't read like a letter though. His tale weaves in and out of the past as he makes his toasts to the five important people. My thoughts in reading these stories where there's a transition in viewpoint or time frame is sometimes: when will this get to the point? But I was drawn into Maurice's story and quickly came to like this honest man who doesn't hold back. I was riveted, eager to find out where this would all lead and why he was telling his story right now? The reasons are slowly unravelled in the end. 

I really loved this novel, I loved the characters and the way that the story was told. It's as though you're sitting down listening to a real person tell you their life story, something that I've always enjoyed. (I don't know if many people sit around and tell each other their life stories anymore.) This novel is never slow and there are no boring bits. 

This is a sweet, sad and very human story. I would recommend it to anyone. It feels so real. It's so perfect.

Maurice Hannigan sits alone in a bar. As the night moves on, Maurice raises 5 toasts to those who have meant the most to him during his 84 years, and tells his story through a monologue directed to his son, Kevin. Totally moving, this book is so beautifully written it brought a tear to my eye on more than one occasion. I devoured it more or less in one sitting.

"A tale of a single night. The story of a lifetime.

If you had to pick five people to sum up your life, who would they be? If you were to raise a glass to each of them, what would you say? And what would you learn about yourself, when all is said and done?
This is the story of Maurice Hannigan, who, over the course of a Saturday night in June, orders five different drinks at the Rainford House Hotel. With each he toasts a person vital to him: his doomed older brother, his troubled sister-in-law, his daughter of fifteen minutes, his son far off in America, and his late, lamented wife. And through these people, the ones who left him behind, he tells the story of his own life, with all its regrets and feuds, loves and triumphs."

I struggled to read this if I am being brutally honest and probably would have given up if I wasn't provided with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the writing or the characters (hence the 3 stars) it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Maurice Hannigan is an Irish farmer, land-owner and more. He is in his 80’s and we find him at a hotel bar raising a glass or five as he recalls his life. Settle in with your favourite tipple as you join Maurice and listen to him toasting five folk who mean so much to him. He is speaking to Kevin as he leads us through memorable times in his life – the hardship, the regrets, the sadness and the joy – Maurice’s honesty is refreshing and his story will be one you won’t want to leave.

Anne Griffin has written a wonderfully interesting, heart-wrenching and charming book. Beautifully written it will capture and hold you enthralled until the very end. Don’t be surprised if you shed a tear or two you’ll also cheer, grimace and laugh alongside this old curmudgeon with a heart. Maurice is a great character, believable and whose story is well worth reading. As readers what an opportunity to be given such an insight into Maurice’s life, thoughts and feelings.

I would certainly recommend this book to anyone and believe it will appeal to all.

With thanks to Sceptre via NetGalley for an eCopy of When All is Said by Anne Griffin. All thoughts are my own, I have not received any payment for the review of this book.